Some shuffled glasses of water. Others rocked out to music on headphones. One man even asked for a side of mustard.

In the end, world champion competitive eater Joey “Jaws” Chestnut — averaging 4.75 bratwurst per minute — walked away with the win at the first Continental Sausage Eating Contest at this year’s Denver Oktoberfest.

Chestnut downed 38 bratwurst in eight minutes during Saturday’s competition, which raised almost $5,000 for Colorado charities. “Jaws” holds the Major League Eating record for hot dogs — 68 hot dogs in 10 minutes — and is ranked the No. 1 eater in the world.

“I feel good,” Chestnut said before the competition.

The biggest challenge in transitioning from hot dogs to bratwurst is the taste, said Chestnut, who broke the gray links in half before methodically gnawing them down. Drinking water was key in the champion’s strategy, he said.

In the amateur league, 11 volunteers chowed down for charities — each was awarded $250 just for signing up. Mark “Toothless” Sutherburg took first place in the amateur league, winning $1,000 for the Denver Rescue Mission.

About 140 bratwurst — no buns — were devoured at the colossal demonstration of mastication, where there was only one rule: if you heave you leave.

Fans cheered and huddled around Chestnut, waiting for autographs and a chance at a picture.

Longtime Chestnut fan Joshua Seeburg said he came out just to see Jaws in action.

“I’m so excited,” Seeburg said. “I really respect him as an athlete. Some people can dunk, some people can hit a home run and some people can eat 68 hot dogs in 10 minutes.”

Chestnut’s biggest competition was Bryan “Big Sexy” Beard, currently ranked the 29th competitive eater in the world by Major League Eating. Beard — an Aurora native known for his oversized foam cowboy hat — devoured 30 bratwurst Saturday.

Beard said one of the most important things in any eating competition is avoiding the chipmunk effect, an unfortunate hazard of food building up in the cheeks of competitor’s mouths when they bite off more than they can chew.

“As long as everyone is having a good time it’s all good,” Beard said. “Eating competitions should be the least serious thing on earth — they’re meant to be fun.”

The youngest of the 11 amateur competitors, 16-year-old Stephon Evans, managed to get down 6 bratwurst before the buzzer sounded.

“I just eat whatever,” said Evans, who represented Denver Kids Inc.

In the end, however, Evans said he really did not care for bratwursts.

Jordan Steffen was the legal affairs reporter for The Denver Post. She left the organization in June 2016 after joining in January 2011. Her past coverage areas included breaking news, child welfare, the western suburbs and crime. She was raised in the Colorado mountains and graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder.